HOPE X: Lock Picking and Lock Sport

HOPE X is happening. There are tons of people here. Tons. So many that people (including me) have been turned away at the door for popular talks. Overall, we are having a great time and meeting some interesting people.

I admit to having zero lock picking experience. It’s something I’ve thought would be neat to learn about for a long time. Well, today was the day…. I attended the “Lockpicking, A Primer” presentation and it was great. They started with the basics, discussing the appeal of lock picking and where organized Lock Sport started. The presentation consisted of excellent graphics and clear explanations of the lock picking process. They went over the anatomy of a lock and how they work as well as the tools used and tool types. The talk also progressed into more advanced topics. There is even a lock picking village where you give it a go. I’ll be trying it out for sure.

Couldn’t make it to NYC for the event? All of the talks are streamed live. You’ve probably heard that Hackaday has a booth at HOPE this year. Swing by and say hi. You could probably convince us to give you a shirt!

The truly hacked together tools that have been spawned to cover unusual locks are really worthy of coverage here. The stuff coming out of Asian countries are particularly impressive in terms of inventiveness and variety. Really hard to get hands on some of ’em though. It goes far beyond what the locksport crowd deals in. They go for skilled speed openings of low and mid-level locks, not so much high security or practical application for locksmiths.

I wonder if someone on here will manage to make a contraption to open some of the more common electric safe locks without the usual bypass, spiker, or boring brute force.